Brynlee's Thoughts on Mythology and Folklore

  the Turtle and the Man  by Richard Edward Dennett (1898). One day a turtle and a man moved into an uninhabited town. They built it there from scratch. But, when they were done they realized they had no food. The turtle decided to build a large trap with the man. Then, they decided that it was too big. So, they split it in half. But, the turtle's half was better because the next day there was an antelope waiting in his, while the man's was empty. The turtle celebrated his win. In all the commotion, an ox came out of the woods. He asked what the commotion was. The turtle explained and asked if he could help him carrying it to his house. Once at his house, he told the ox to go get some water and he would cut up his share. While the ox was gone, the turtle hid all of it in his house and refused to leave regardless of the ox demanding his share. The ox, then, set out on a revenge course. He was going to destroy his trap. But, he was quickly ensnared and died. Then, the turtle did

 Twin Brothers by  Richard Edward Dennett (1898). This is the story of two paths interconnected.  There once was a woman. She was pregnant. After an intensive labor, she gave birth to twins, full grown twins. They were ready to set off into the world. They had a special charm that followed them and got them out of trouble when necessary.  At the same time, a very beautiful woman was ready for marriage. She was of legal age and prepared to marry. But, her father wanted to make sure that the suitors had her blessing before he would agree to the marriage, because she was the one who would have to put up with them forever.  Upon her coming of age, many suitors arrived. A tiger approached her father and he sent him to her and she rejected him. A gazelle, same outcome. A pig, same outcome. She was distraught that all of these suitors are not what she wanted. Until one day, she was walking through town and she saw the most handsome man she had ever seen. She ran directly to her mom and told

Gazelle Marries  by  Richard Edward Dennett (1898). There once was a man who had two wives. Each was pregnant and gave birth at the same time. They were beautiful beyond anything the town had ever seen. But, since their father had an abundance of money, he decided that it would not be present that won their hand in marriage but the first man to learn their true names. One day, an antelope came and tried to bargain for their hands in marriage. The father told them his proposition and the antelope fled in search of their names. Shortly after, a prince showed up for the same purpose and received the same proposition. He returned to town and was frantic in search of their names. However, his dog stayed behind. He heard the father yell to his daughters and ran to find his master. But, on the long trail, he was hungry. After winning a battle with a cat, he completely forgot the names. So, he ran back. This time their father instructed them to feed the dog but without water he became thirsty

I am happy with my progress so far! I think I am most proud of my project because I think the idea is really fun and if I can do it correctly it will be really great! I enjoy reading other people's writings. There are so many different ideas and writing styles that are inspiring but also just fun to read. They make me a better writer also! I am using the extra credit to keep a high grade so that if my project tanks I will still have an A! I think that my blog and my website are very different but they reflect their purpose well.  I would like to create a better routine. I think that I have slowly gotten into a groove and I like how it fits into my week but sometimes that time frame leaves me flustered and I do not want that! I think as far as pitfalls go, I just need throw everything into writing and then go back and edit opposed to overthinking details!  My motivation is getting through the semester and getting to be home with family again for the Christmas season! Source:  Flickr

I t hink the comments are very helpful. They were equally uplifting and constructing. I liked that a lot of people started with positives. I think sometimes with feedback it can be easy to only focus on the negative comments that you have because you overall want the person to make their work better, but sometimes that can be discouraging. I appreciated that people were honest and seemed genuinely excited to read my work. The comments I find most useful are the ones that I can clearly fix. If I can read it and fix it, I appreciate it. A couple were vague where I wasn't sure what to do to make them content with my work.  Similarly to those leaving comments, I have found it best to give a compliment and things that I really liked about their style or their work and then circle back with a suggestion about parts I had questions or ideas about. It is important to get the perspective of other people in these comments so I try to make them truly helpful. I am getting ideas because each o

I am excited about my readings. I think that they are interesting and it makes me want to do my homework assignments. I like the variety from week to week and how it changes throughout the semester. It does not have the same origin which means that the stories will continue to change. I like my writing assignments  where I get to retell the stories. It allows me to change my least favorite parts or alter the story  to put it in my own world and story line. I like the opportunity of adding a Brynlee flair on centuries old stories. I like my blog. I am a huge fan of pink and I the script that I used as the titles. I think that it looks a lot like me as a person, which is reflected further in my thoughts. My project website is much better! I think with the theme and the stories I chose to retell align very nicely. My story posts are easier than my project because they are shorter and not related. I think that is part of the struggle I am having with the project because I want them to be i

  Quest of the Jewel by   E. W. Champney and F. Champney (1917). There once was a fish maiden. She spent all of her time by the river fantasizing about the royals life in the palace. They were all so beautiful and pristine. Their lives were planned out for them and they never had to wonder what would happen next. One day, on her daily delivery to the palace, she saw a handsome man fleeing. He was grumbling to himself and stomping away as if something terrible had happened to him. Out of curiosity and lust, she followed him. She knew if he was leaving the palace there was no one worthy for him except a princess but she wanted to know him. She had to know him. He continued his pity parade well into the forest. He finally stopped at her favorite part of the river, where is puddled enough to make a deep well. She would never dare go in it for it was ridden with monsters. He continued his grumbling until she stepped out from behind the tree.  He yelled " I wanted to be alone , let me d

 Labors of Yamato: The Dragon Yamato had just returned from retrieving the sacred sword. He was overwhelmed with feelings from the quest, but the strongest were those for his one true love. Her love and loyalty had gotten him through the worst of it. But, before he could go see her, he had to make a stop. There was a sorceress that had been against him the whole time. He had to go and punish her for treachery and treason against the throne. As he was crossing the river to get to her, a siren called to him. This siren was intriguing for just enough time to pull him in. She sank to the bottom of the river and he felt a cold embrace of a serpent. He was struggling and fighting. But, once again, his love came through. He heard his lady's voice call unto him. He pulled on it and she came into his vision and grasped him. There, she pulled him up. But, when he got onto solid ground, she was no where to be found. This was worrisome. As he went into town, he noticed everything was in disarr

  Eight Forked Serpent of Koshi   by  E. W. Champney and F. Champney (1917). One day, our hero was walking along the river. He noticed a chopstick floating downstream. He knew that where there were chopsticks, there had to be people so he headed up the stream. The river lead him into the forest. There he met an older man, he had a long gray beard and looked very weary. He asked him what he knew of the village and the man explained that he and his family were the only ones there. He asked him why he looked so weary and so beaten down. The man explained how each year that he and his family had been there, a giant beast had come and slain one of his daughters. He had one left and was worried for her safety. Our hero then asked him to describe the monster. He painted a vivid picture of the serpent's beady red eyes and the blood that coated the body. He described the eight heads of the serpent that were accompanied by the eight prong like tails. This did not scare our hero. He told the